Direct imaging of a multi-planet system (HR 8799)
Imagen directa de un sistema planetario múltiple (HR 8799)
- Date
- 2008 · confidence high
- Place
- Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii, United States
- Credited to
- Christian Marois and colleagues (Keck and Gemini North)
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Using adaptive optics and the Keck and Gemini North telescopes, direct images were obtained of three giant planets, later four, around the star HR 8799. It showed that a planetary system beyond the Sun could be photographed.
Fomalhaut b (Hubble) was published the same week in November 2008; it is often cited alongside HR 8799 as the first direct images of planets. HR 8799's was the first of a multi-planet system.
What it led to
- direct imaging of young, luminous exoplanets
- measurement of planetary orbital motion from years of images
- spectral analysis of exoplanet atmospheres